I've gone to the last two Not Normal Tapes showcases and have been blown away each time. To be honest, I go in knowing probably about one quarter of the bands, but being already sold on their music. That said, it's an all killer no filler event. I'm always blown away by bands I hadn't seen before. This year, the bands Bad Blood, Tensions, Ivy, Anomaly and (well) everyone else filled that curiosity. I'm not including Glow God because I already had their record and knew that they would slay - I was correct. In the basement of Dee Dee Ramone's Funky X-Lab, Glow God showed off their finely-honed mix of hardcore sensibility with 90s grunge and alternative rock.
House of Distractions was one of those records that I heard playing in Permanent Records and knew I had come across something special. I actually thought it was a Whatever Brains record at first because for some reason Tim Buchanan's voice had sounded to me like Rich Ivey's. Not a bad thing. I didn't actually pick up the record that day, though I found it on Spotify and listened to it on repeat for several days after. I'm glad, though, because I bought the LP directly from the band, which can often make the buying experience a little more special, if you ask me (though you should always support your local record shop!) In all honesty, it's a record that will make my year-end list. I love the damn thing and it stands up with any other great record that has come out this year.
Members of Glow God are also in the hardcore band American Hate, which are going to be touring for a bit more, including a return date through Chicago in July. I highly recommend checking out that band too, which is great on record and maybe even greater live. I guess hardcore is always better as a witness than a listener, though.
I ended up getting into a really nuanced discussion with Taylor at Prosper Skate Shopabout spirituality, psychedelics, and mind expansion. Tony and I talked horror flicks and Protomartyr. It goes without saying that the guys in the band are really rad dudes. Naturally, I had to ask them for an interview.
Jordan: So tell me a little bit about Oklahoma, the scene that you guys came from.
Payton: I just moved there so it can’t be that bad.
Tim: It changes a lot.
Tony: Now that Payton’s there, everything’s different.
Taylor: The show spots rotate a lot like most scenes. There’s not really a punk scene though there is a DIY scene.
Payton: There are a couple bars that are good to play at and there was a house too, but there isn’t now.
Taylor: It was a great house - the Capital House.
Tony: Basically slim pickin’s.
Jordan: How about in terms of bands? Still slim?
Tony: There are some cool bands actually.
Taylor: There’s Power Pyramid, Sex Snobs, Dust House and the associated bands. Dust House has their own studio, and that’s where we recorded our record and a lot of our tapes. It’s two people who converted a garage apartment into an almost fully analog studio. And they do everything free. You just buy the tape and then they’ll record you.
Jordan: What was the tape you guys were selling today along with the 12”?
Taylor: That’s an old tape - that was our split with Missionary Haircut, but they’re not around anymore. They had members of Power Pyramid.
Tim: That was when the band was me, Tmac [Taylor] and one other guy.
Jordan: Do you guys have stuff other than the 12” and the tape?
Payton: There is another tape, there’s a demo.
Tony: There’s a demo, there’s a three song cassette…
Taylor: That’s the Russian Candy tape, and we had a tour demo that had five songs from our LP before we had recorded it.
Tim: We also have a cassette coming out on Not Normal, which is two songs and should be out soon.
Jordan: How’s the tour so far?
Payton: It’s great so far. We’re six days in out of six weeks. Two months for everyone but me.
Jordan: You’re not part of the two months?
Payton: Well, it’s Glow God/American Hate for ten days, Glow God for a few weeks, and then American Hate for a few weeks. Being that I’m not in American Hate, I’m not going to be with them. I’m gonna go home and try to make money again.
Taylor: July 9th.
Jordan: So you guys are doing through the East Coast with Glow God and then out West with American Hate?
Taylor: Exactly. And we’re doing like six dates with this band Skin Color from Calgary as American Hate.
Jordan: Are there any bands you guys are excited to play with?
Taylor: Oh yeah!
Payton: I’m really excited to play with Liquor Store in New York.
Taylor: Rotten Milk in New Orleans. There are so many more.
Tony: We play with Bad Sports and Radioactivity a couple times. They’re our boys. I’m excited about that.
Jordan: It’s a lot of good names. Have you guys been listening to any good jams lately?
Tim: Nah.
Tony: I brought a Beach Boys - Surf’s Up copy.
Jordan: Is that like their second album or something?
Tony: No it’s a ways down - I think it came out in like 71.
Taylor: We’ve been listening to Alan Vega.
Jordan: He’s awesome.
Taylor: (laughs) Yeah, party with Alan Vega.
Jordan: That’s a super downer record.
(band laughs)
Payton: We listen to Kate Bush in the van.
Taylor: That’s pretty constant.
Payton: Also some jazz, some Hawkwind.
Tony: I showed Ross the new Protomartyr album. Do you listen to them?
Jordan: (Joe Casey “Scum Rise” Impersonation)
Tony: That’s right we talked about that.
Taylor: We’ve also been listening to Marc Maron’s WTF lately - it’s just a cool podcast.
Jordan: Cool. Anything else?
Taylor: Let’s see what’s a question for you…
Tony: Is it hard to wear cowboy boots in Chicago?
Jordan: Yes.
Taylor: You do it well.
Jordan: Yeah, they’re caked in like yesterday’s cesspool, but other than that. I think it adds character though.
Payton: You don’t want clean boots though.
Jordan: No, clean boots can suck it.
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